Our Wind, Our Power, Our Future

Wind Energy Legislative Roundup

by SKowalski | Sep 15, 2023 | News

By Lloyd Ritter, DWEA Representative

Welcome to the August (and part of September) Congressional recess, I guess. Congress left town last week with a load of work still to do, ranging from appropriations to the Farm Bill re-authorization. It’s going to get very interesting when they get back. 

The challenge is the House majority is deeply fractured. The ag appropriations bill on July 27 had to be pulled at the last minute because of intra-party infighting over its content. So, we’ll have to see what September brings. Many are betting on another government shutdown.

So that’s the noise in D.C. of late. The upshot is while Congress has its many issues, we are still hard at work. There is always action, sometimes we go on offense, sometimes defense, or both.

Some examples: we are talking to lots of Congressional Members and their staff to fend off the House ag appropriations proposed $500 million in cuts to REAP, the elimination of cost-share grants in REAP, as well as $1 billion in cuts to New ERA (the rural electric coop program from the IRA). We worked with Sen. Tina Smith (D-MN) and Reps. Abagail Spanberger (D-VA) and David Valadao (R-CA) on their very positive REAP “marker” legislation for the upcoming Farm Bill. We are also communicating with the Treasury Department regarding IRA implementation issues. And we’re developing a new effort with other like-minded distributed renewable leaders for a longer-term strengthening of our respective DER market segment. 

Please keep in mind that Congressional Members head home this time of year, not just to vacation and be with their families but to do retail politicking with folks in their Districts. You’ll see them pop up in coffee shops and at community events. My request to you—monitor their whereabouts and if you have a chance, please talk to them and their staff about distributed wind power benefits and our policy issues. And when you do, ping me a quick note. Knowledge is power!

Hope you are enjoying the summer and looking forward to more success in the weeks ahead! 

President’s Message August 2023

by SKowalski | Sep 13, 2023 | News

By Michael Bergey, DWEA President

Dangerous, record-breaking heat across the globe is bringing home the real impact of our continued use of fossil fuels. But also in the news is the impressive surge of domestic investments in clean energy and storage manufacturing, as well as project deployment, stemming from federal legislation enacted less than a year ago. Story after story, many coming from “red” states, tell the tales of new factory investments in wind, solar, and storage, including the jobs that will ensue. President Biden’s and Congressional Democrats’ big bet on aggressive industrial policy to change the trajectory of CO2 emissions in the U.S. and build huge new clean energy industries appear to be paying off. It may well be the new jobs, and not the heat, that most effectively help erode Republican opposition to all thing’s climate change. One can hope.

Meanwhile, the work at DWEA continues. We were not successful in getting distributed wind inserted in the $7 billion EPA “Solar for All” program, but we did accomplish having a reserve fund for USDA REAP included in a “marker bill” that will help influence the critically important 2023 Farm Bill. We have yet to learn whether our request to the Treasury Department to allow the use of imported towers for distributed wind projects up to 1 MW to qualify for the Sec. 48 10-percent domestic content bonus. On the horizon is a multi-technology campaign to close the gap between the Sec. 48 and the Sec. 25D (residential) tax incentives.

So please, stay out of the heat but do publicize even your smallest business accomplishments in order that your voice is added to the good news on clean energy jobs and investment growth. You will be helping yourself and DWEA’s ongoing mission.